The other day I wrote about watching the Champions League match from Monaco -- in Brooklyn.Young fans in Israel watched the most recent Clasico from Spain, on April 23 -- projected from a laptop onto canvas, resting on an artist's easel. The host, Mendel Horowitz, does not have a TV in his house. (What a great idea. Except for soccer and baseball.) The young people improvised. This was the match won by Leo Messi, two minutes into stoppage time. www.nytimes.com/2017/04/23/sports/soccer/barcelona-real-madrid-lionel-messi-el-clasico.html?_r=0My friend Horowitz, originally from Queens, insists Messi is the greatest active player in the world.One thing I have learned over the years is, never argue with a rabbi. ​(see Comments below)

That could also be said about many American events like the Final Four or Super Bowl, when a new Destiny’s Darling rarely wins out, but he was basically right.

The disparity in soccer is continued during the first leg of the semifinals this week, with Real Madrid humiliating cross-town rival Atlético, 3-0, on Tuesday in their annual Champions League encounter and Juventus pretty much annihilating Monaco, 2-0, on Wednesday.

For me, the utter one-sidedness of both matches was made tolerable by people I have seen in uniform in the past couple of decades -- great moments and abject failures by Diego Simeone, Zinedine Zidane, Cristiano Ronaldo and Gigi Buffon, dominant players, dominant personalities.

And, really, isn’t that the essence of sport – the past adding to the present? This gigantic youth with the Yankees – Aaron Judge – has already hit 13 homers this season, bringing comparison to Ruth and A-Rod, to say nothing of Mantle and Maris.

Sports fans watch two things at once – live action and mental replay.

On Tuesday, I saw two trim gents on the sidelines, just a few yards apart. I envisioned Simeone, stalwart defender for Argentina, provoking David Beckham into the worst moment of his career, a petulant kick of Simeone in plain view of everybody in St. Etienne, France, during the 1998 World Cup, for which Beckham was ejected.

And speaking of ejections, I could see Zidane gliding and dancing and leaping for two header goals in what I consider the greatest (or at least most beautiful) World Cup final performance, ever in the Stade de France, 1998, the whole nation chanting Zee-dahn! Zee-dahn!

Then of course I could see Zidane, provoked by a former opponent, from Serie A, head-butting Marco Materazzi of Italy, late in the final of the World Cup, and trudging off impassively after being ejected. ​There they were on Tuesday, two great players involved in historic meltdowns, watching Atlético being destroyed by Real Madrid – or should I say by Cristiano Ronaldo?

CR7 willed himself to three goals, the second one, into the upper left corner, about as vicious and accurate a missile as any of us will ever see.

I have referred to Ronaldo as a pretty boy withtinted hair and supercilious smirk, but now I see him as the best player of his time. My two Arsenal pals, with whom I watched Wednesday's match, say Leo Messi is the best but for me Messi excels in a pattern whereas Ronaldo is a force unto himself.

The fourth familiar face this week was the expressive Buffon, who shows more emotion at singing the Italian anthem than most people muster up for the biggest events of their lives. He and Juve seem to have been doing this forever, interrupted briefly by scandal a decade ago.​Buffon is 38, still able to flick away just about anything and then find time to socialize with opponents. He shut down Radamel Falcao Wednesday and greeted his opponent as he departed.

Later Buffon fell to the ground to smother a loose ball and Monaco’s 18-year-old Kylian Mbappé chose to leap over him, rather than raking his cleats on Buffon's ancient spine. Buffon gave him a toothy smile and a collegial pat on the head.

Don’t be fooled by this show of brava figura. Italian defenders often smile and schmooze – like lanky Giorgio Ciellini of Juventus, who cold-cocked a Monaco opponent with his elbow Wednesday and then knelt over him solicitously, as if he were some kind of genial paramedic.

It’s always good to see people I recognize, to have their past exploits hovering over the field. But good enough to invest time on the second leg next week? Not so sure about that. (below: the most beautiful WC final by one player, ever.)​

I love when you cover the beautiful game George. You helped me fall in love with futbol when I read your coverage from Spain in 1982. As a loyal Atletico supporter, Tuesday's match still hurts. I'll be pulling for the "Old Lady" (Juve) in a what looks like a probably RMA v Juventus final. Buffon deserves the Champions League silverware!

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George Vecsey

5/4/2017 07:16:16 pm

Mike, thanks for the nice words. Only reason I can find for my not rooting for Buffon in the final is that he might figure it's a good way to retire. I would miss him belting out the anthem. Be well. GV

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Brian Savin

5/4/2017 01:30:03 pm

It took me four tries to read through this article until the end, and it was fun The first two attempts, I was stopped cold by one of the most interesting thoughts I've encountered in a long time:

"Sports fans watch two things at once – live action and mental replay."

The first time, I got a weird flash of Berra in left field, Howard behind the plate and remembered how both hit home runs to beat Cleveland 6-4 in my first game at the Stadium. I recovered and started over. That same line got me again, this time to Hall Field and my brother doing great in a Little League game. Third time, I forced through until the Zidane paragraph, and then that World Cup game came back to me....and how much he reminded me of Messier.

Finally I got through this. But I won't forget this most interesting line of truth:

"Sports fans watch two things at once – live action and mental replay."

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George Vecsey

5/4/2017 07:18:13 pm

Brian, thank you for the honor. I enjoy writing, as sheer pleasure, plus keeping myself in typing shape. Use it or lose it. I got up early today knowing I needed to change gears on the site again, and use my reactions to the two Ch. Lg. matches of past days. Makes me happy to peck away, knowing you are reading. GV

"Sports fans watch two things at once – live action and mental replay." sounds so simple but it says it all about being a fan. Sometimes memory is the more enjoyable of the two.

Buffon is a cagey old-timer. I think that "vintage goalkeeper" refers to older goalkeepers aging like a fine wine. They are as delightful to watch as a fine wine is to drink.

That is two other things that a sports fan can do at the same time.

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George Vecsey

5/6/2017 07:48:30 pm

Alan, because you played and now coach the position, you know keepers. So many flamboyant ones, not just Buffon. Zenga of Italy., Jorge Campos with those wild outfits, Rene Higuita "El Loco," roaming for Colombia., And let's not forget Scurry and Solo for US women. Now Neuer with more touches than Brazilian striker in last World Cup. It's a unique position -- with lots of history and characters. GV

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Joshua Rubin

5/8/2017 10:05:34 am

Unlike my dad, I gave up goalkeeping at a relatively young age (I had a HS coach who took all the joy out of the game, so I wanted to play intramurals and run around a lot, instead). But i want to add to the pantheon of flamboyant goalkeepers the one I idolized as a young player -- Shep Messing. I didn't know a lot of the nutty stuff he did at the time, I just liked that there was a home grown US goalkeeper hero, a Jew, no less.

George Vecsey

5/8/2017 11:16:53 am

Josh, thanks for the comment. Yes, Shep/is was one of the great American presences.
I could have done a whole riff on the excellent athletes who became keepers from the US -- Meola, Keller, Friedel, Howard.
Meola was a baseball player; Friedel could have been a walk-on for UCLA; Howard was a great player, accordng to Jerseyites. I could see Keller playing SS....
Our keeper at Jamaica, when I was a junior, wrote in my yearbook that I should switch to keeper the next year. That inspired terror in my heart, and I stayed right where I was, immobile defender. Not for the faint of heart. GV

Ed Martin

5/6/2017 05:30:50 pm

Others already have picked up the insight in you "Two things" comment. For years when Maury Wills and others got on base I saw Jackie Robinson. Ciao.

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G

5/6/2017 07:51:48 pm

Ed, thanks. True, but nobody had the physical/psychological presence that JR42 did. He was so big. Sometime find a video of Robinson running outside as wingback for UCLA. I was at a JR Foundation reception 10 years ago with Joe Morgan and Willie Randolph, and they played a tape of Robinson in college, and Morgan and Randolph were roaring at his audacity and size and speed, and so were the rest of us. GV

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Mendel

5/8/2017 04:35:17 am

My sons insist on Leo and I tend to agree. Hosted a group of teenagers to watch the most recent Clasico projected from a laptop onto a blank canvas standing on an artist's easel. Leo's deliberate explosiveness blew me away.

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George Vecsey

5/8/2017 09:27:31 am

Mendel, thanks. I have come to appreciate Messi's special talent., I think I was fooled a bit by his humble size and demeanor. I'd still pick Ronaldo as the one building block....
My other caveat about messi is that he has not won a Mundial with Argentina, which Maradona did, single-handedly, as the saying goes.
Wouldn't expect Ronaldo to win the WC...but he did drive them to the Europe title, albeit on sidelines for final.
be well, GV

I did not have any foreign favorites when I was in high school and college as there was almost no professional soccer on TV.

I met Shep at NSCAA’s 2015 January annual convention. I was friendly with someone in the Cosmos’ front office and they had a booth. She said that Shep would be there to sign autographs at 10:30 and she would introduce me to him if I came 15 minutes early.

I had read his book, “The Education of an American Soccer Player” which could be considered soccer’s “Ball Four”.

I had also enjoyed his brief career with the Cosmos.

We had a brief fifteen minutes conversation, but met up later for a longer conversation. It did not hurt that I mentioned George Vecsey was a friend.

As we compared how we both got into goalkeeping by accident, he commented that we had similar careers. I agreed except that he was a little better known.

I asked him about his description in the book about being terrified by a Tampa Bay Rowdy breaking in alone at high speed. Shep said that was one of many examples of the sheer terror of being a goalkeeper.

Tim Howard was very special in his prime. He received well deserved praise for his 2014 World Cup game against Belgium. Many of his 17 saves were spectacular.. What did not receive much attention was Tim’s positioning.

Goalkeeper skills are very easy to learn. The difficulty is in becoming a good goalkeeper, which requires hours of practice and trial and error, particularly on breakaways.

The major decision for good goalkeepers is where they should position themselves. After that it is all instinct and reflexes.

Tim’s reflex saves against Belgium were classic, but they were the result of perfect positioning.

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George Vecsey

5/9/2017 08:47:25 am

Alan, I saw that match on the tube. Howard was magnificent, at the peak of his game, like Reyna at MF vs. Mexico, 2002.
Speaking of keepers, I read that Guzan yielded three goals through his wickets yesterday. I would expect Howard to play in the next vital qualifiers. GV

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bruce

5/9/2017 07:44:57 pm

george,

when i think of great keepers, i think of shilton and banks.

good point about ronaldo vs messi, but i'd pick messi if i was choosing.

ronaldo is lightning in a bottle, but messi has had his share of 'em too.

i compare them to ovechkin and crosby in hockey. ovechkin is a great goal scorer. crosby makes everybody around him better.

finally, george best was an incredible player. beautiful to watch. never a chance to win a WC or even a european title.. ronaldo will never win a WC one tho his team won the european championship. so did greece....

Pele considers Gordon Banks save on his header at the 1970 World Cup in Mexico the greatest of all time. Banks was described as somehow rising up once he was already in the air.

Peter Shilton is considered by many as the UK’s all-time greatest goalkeeper. His autobiography was an amazing read.

Maradona’s hand of god was scored against Shilton, who has never forgiven him.

My coaching academy, Just4Keepers of West MA, is part of J4K International. Ray Newland, CEO and Founder, started J4K in 1999 and it is Liverpool based. Ray’s professional career ended prematurely at age 28 due to a knee injury.

I occasional Skype with Ray and he has discussed several of the UK goalkeeper legends who mentored him—Peter Shilton, Peter Bonetti (former England national team GK coach), Neville Southhall plus two more who I cannot recall.

J4K International has a coach’s only Facebook page where J4K coaches from over 22 countries post advice and videos of their training sessions, answer questions and discuss trends in goalkeeping.

It is an amazing learning experience for me and my young goalkeepers are aware of the level of their training.

One excellent student was doing well, but I thought that he was crouching too low in his set position and when he moved. I was reluctant to change what was working, but he was a little off from what I preferred.

I posted a video clip on the J4K Facebook site for comment.

Everyone agreed that my student’s position was slightly low, but not to tamper with success.

It is great coaching with some of the best goalkeepers in the world at your back.

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bruce

5/10/2017 01:16:32 pm

alan,

i know of the pele save. i was 20 during that world cup.

didn't pele applaud or was that another time?

england's greatest strength for a long time was their goalies.

not much strength anymore. pretty much a wash.

brazilians got much of the glory, but i think germany--year in and out--is the best in the world. always seem to be in the final eight at least....even when they aren't a favoured team.

don't have the stats in front of me, but i believe they've appeared in the most finals and are one world cup win behind brazil......

Just learned more about the save --header, low, Banks deflected it high above crossbar. No mention of Pele applauding him....we've all seen that from a sporting offensive player now and then....but apparently Pele does say it was the best WC save he'd seen.

PS: I forgot to mention Dino Zoff, who gave me a great interview during my first World Cup in 1982....a real gent, gave me time at the team pool during a press boycott "silenzio di stampa." He won the Cup a few weeks later. Very cool guy.
GV

bruce

5/10/2017 06:23:21 pm

george,

forgotten about zoff.

not a name i'd think was italian if i was seeing it for the first time.